How can you coach assertiveness skills for effective team leadership?

How get team buy-In? Determine how to identify stakeholders and gain their support. You must use empathy and improve your listening skills so you can understand the complex dynamics of your new team. Plan ahead to prevent unnecessary obstacles, reduce future workloads and increase successful outcomes. Prioritise your workload and then delegate or eliminate what you can’t (or shouldn’t) manage. This includes careful delegation, some automation (we are in 2022 already) and in some cases dropping some (unnecessary/improductive) tasks to the dustbin and cancelling them. If you are in a constant ‘firefighter’ mode, you might evaluate incoming tasks by urgency/importance to tackle them appropriately. (Eisenhower-matrix)

One of the great challenges in assessing ourselves is that we may have a very different view of ourselves than the people with whom we work. One of the more effective ways to capture unfiltered feedback from others in a non-threatening way is to run a blind 360 degree assessment that where the raters know the subject, but the subject does not know who the raters are. Quite a few survey platforms offer the ability to do this, collecting the data, and providing a basic analytical analysis of the data collected.

Assertiveness is directly correlated to confidence. As a coach, working with a client who gets to be more assertive means working with them to increase their confidence. Understanding why they believe they shy away from opportunities to be assertive is the first place coaches to start, as creating this understanding will act as the bedrock for future development and growth.

Number one, allow them to be themselves. We can't make someone a clone of ourselves. We can encourage strong traits that every human being has, and help the grow through teaching them how to avoid their weaknesses.

I recognize the vital role assertiveness plays in fostering growth. I continually assess my assertiveness, ensuring I model effective communication, boundaries, and feedback. By cultivating assertiveness within myself, I create a safe space for coachees to express freely, fostering mutual respect. It’s a foundational element in our journey of personal and relational evolution at EmpathiShift.

Assertiveness for Effective Team Leadership: Coaching Insights As a business coach, coaching assertiveness is crucial for effective team leadership. Overcoming obstacles like insecurity or conflict avoidance, assertiveness fosters: Decision-Making Strength: Enhances productivity through prompt decision-making. Clear Communication: Reduces misunderstandings in the team through articulate communication. Building Trust: Strengthens the leadership position through clearly articulated assertiveness. Targeted coaching overcomes obstacles, fully realizing the benefits of assertiveness in team leadership. This results in an effective work environment, fostering the growth and development of the team.

Absolutely, identifying and overcoming barriers is key! At EmpathiShift, as a SoulSync Evolutionist, I guide coachees through a journey of self-discovery, addressing internal and external obstacles that hinder assertiveness. By exploring beliefs, values, and emotions, we create a roadmap for growth. Recognizing the benefits of assertiveness is transformative, fostering trust, productivity, and personal satisfaction. Together, we navigate the path to confident and assertive living. #Empowerment #Assertiveness #CoachingJourney

Coaching assertiveness isn't just about techniques; it's navigating barriers firsthand – fear of conflict, balancing assertiveness, and concerns about dominance. Yet, the hidden gem is in the benefits: assertiveness catalyses growth, sharpens clarity, and fosters innovation. My coaching journey taught me it's not just a skill; it's a collective strength reshaping mindsets for empowered team dynamics.

I like to emphasize the importance of respecting the opinions and feelings of others. Assertiveness is not about being aggressive; it involves finding a balance between expressing oneself and considering the needs of others.

One thing that I have found helpful over the years is to put myself in the other person's shoes first. This increases the effectiveness of what is said substantially and makes certain that the other person doesn't become defensive. When I first started teaching assertiveness skills nearly 50 years ago, I taught groups of people how to repeatedly say their message until it was heard. I also taught my students to use soft tones of voice, check their body posture and also their body position relative to the person they were asserting themselves with. These things ensured that they were successful and also perceived as kind and caring. I have found that today's teachers of assertiveness somehow have forgotten these basics...

Assertive communication means that we politely, clearly, but firmly and respectfully ask for what we want and say no to what we don’t want. “This report still needs a lot of work. Why don’t you take a closer look at it with Tom and get back to me in a couple days?” “Hey boss, I’m having some trouble collaborating with Joe on the X account. I think it might help if we had more clearly defined roles and objectives. These people hear the term assertiveness or imagine themselves being assertive, and it feels pushy, rude, or disrespectful. Assertive meaning is almost always the most effective way of interacting with people because it’s A) an honest expression of how you feel and what’s important to you, but also B) respectful of others.

Assertive communication is a game-changer! At EmpathiShift, my coaching approach integrates these principles seamlessly. We delve into the nuances of passive, aggressive, and assertive behavior, understanding their impact on outcomes and relationships. I guide coachees in mastering assertive language—utilizing ‘I’ statements, positive requests, and constructive feedback. Non-verbal cues are a powerful tool, and we practice through role-plays and scenarios. It’s not just coaching; it’s a transformation in communication. Ready to embark on this journey? #AssertiveCommunication #CoachingSkills #EmpathiShift

To really engage adults, making the sessions, scenarios and stories relevant to their particular situation or life really helps. Using different activities for the different learning styles will also help them really learn the concepts. And mostly, but getting everyone as engaged as possible with the lessons and activities is the best way to ensure success.

The real magic happens when we apply learning to real-life scenarios! At EmpathiShift, coaching assertiveness extends beyond theory. We set realistic, specific goals, monitor progress, and celebrate achievements. I provide constructive feedback, encouragement, and recognition, supporting coachees through setbacks or conflicts. It’s a journey where growth is acknowledged, successes celebrated, and assertiveness becomes a lived reality. Ready to transform your assertiveness skills? Let’s navigate this together! #AssertivenessCoaching #RealLifeApplication #EmpathiShift

Coaching assertiveness is a dance of challenge and support. Push your coachees out of their comfort zone with tasks that stretch them. Like a trampoline, support is the unsung hero, propelling them higher. Catch them with guidance, feedback, and confidence boosts. In this balance, assertiveness blooms, voices are discovered, and leadership thrives.

We've seen great success coupling a four quadrant daily plan (do more of, do less of, stop doing, and start doing) with neurolinguistic programming to effect habit changes in management and leadership professionals at all level across all disciplines. Like Dr. Don W points out, real-life scenarios work. We help coaching clients establish a daily discipline of self-assessment to evaluate how they are doing applying their daily action plan to their work and with the specific people they work with.

My coaching philosophy is that one need to understand themselves at a deeper level before they can start on a learning and growth journey. I start off with using a Psychometric assignment to help them understand their behaviors, motivators, and Competencies. Then deep dive into understanding their 3 to 5 years goals and the role assertiveness plays in they reaching goals and identify GAPS if any. This way they understand why they need to change their assertiveness style. This will enable me to develop a coaching plan around their mindset (assumptions and beliefs) to help them change and adopt. People change and adopt very fast when they understand the reason (WHY) for change.

One of the things that my coaching clients most appreciate is working on developing their emotional intelligence, which research shows to be one of the top predictors of career success. The best news about emotional intelligence is that it can be learned and developed. We naturally increase in emotional intelligence through life experiences as we age. Like my colleague Rajit Tedla, I've been using a best-in-class EQ assessment integrated with assessments measuring behaviors and intrinsic motivators, to enable individuals to gain a more complete picture of who they are. Over the last 10 years this approach has enabled more than 95% of coaching clients to enjoy rapid acceleration in their application of EQ.